Jessika Power ‘fesses up to $60K of bodywork: What she got done
A leading Sydney plastic surgeon has revealed explosive details of why he now flatly refuses to put patients under the knife. It comes as MAFS bride Jessika Power, Aliva Celio and Jack Vidgen lifted the lid on splurging up to $60,000.
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Reality TV star turned Instagram influencer Jessika Power said pressure from her work eight years ago started her on a $60,000 cosmetic journey.
“I used to do beauty editorial photoshoots, and photographers always said one lip was smaller. I did not want to conform to the whole modelling thing but I started noticing it more, the more it was brought up,” the 28-year-old former Married At First Sight star said.
“I had it done and they completely botched the procedure. Being young I thought it would get fixed if I had more filler in it.”
In the last 18 months she has had a flurry of cosmetic procedures including having her lips dissolved and reinjected, cheeks filled, Botox injected in her jaw, veneers and Botox in her forehead.
The total cost of the procedures came to more than $60,000.
“I spoke to my sister about plastic surgery and I don’t want her to get it,” she said.
“She’s only 23. Eliza wanted a breast augmentation because she matured too early.
“I told her she’s too young. I think cosmetic surgery and cosmetic injections comes down to how you feel and how you look.
“I got my recent breast augmentation after going to the surgeon for a problem with my thighs that I could not shift. No one else said it, no one else brought it up. My doctor said he could take it out and put it in my breasts to make them fuller.
“I have no problems with getting implants. I think I will get them once I have kids. I’m confident in my body at the moment.”
Jack Vigden is another reality show veteran who doesn’t see any risk in the filler craze.
“I first got Botox when I was 19,” the 2019 Voice singer told The Daily Telegraph.
“To me, lip filler is like make-up, it’s like doing your hair — it’s not permanent.”
WARNING TEENS ON FILLS & SPILLS
Health experts, however, are warning that social-media-obsessed teens should be exhaustively screened by the cosmetic cowboys at cheap injectable clinics before they have their lips are filled, foreheads smoothed or jaws shaped.
The warning comes as hordes of vulnerable teens continue to flock to plastic surgeons and injectable clinics to emulate the reality show stars and influencers they are bombarded with while scrolling on their phone.
According to the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery, there has been a global 16 per cent increase in Botox injections and a 12 per cent increase in lip fillers in the past year.
Psychologist Dr Michelle Roseler, who has developed a screening tool to check for underlying mental health issues in plastic surgery patients, said she has found among her respondents that social media has played a pivotal role in the trend.
“Younger people want some sort of surgery done. You see it from the moment they turn 18,” she said.
“This young demographic wants instant gratification, they want stuff now. And the fact is surgery is more readily available. What they really need is to slow down, and part of that is the clinicians’ responsibility.”
“They need to be able to properly screen their patients — I’m comfortable plastic surgeons would do this. I’m not so sure this is happening at the high-turnover injectable clinics.”
The program has been used by professional plastic surgeons, not at injectable clinics, and gives clinicians a better understanding of their patient before the surgery.
She has surveyed about 4000 respondents and said there were not a lot of trends in terms of mental illnesses but it was clear social media played a role in the demand for procedures.
Fellow of the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery Dr Irene Kushelew said they have noticed an increase in the number of clients wanting Botox or fillers due was likely due to influencers promoting the surgeries on social media.
“There is a much greater demand now than ever before. Certainly with influencers and the Kardashians posting images of themselves or the products has given the whole industry a lot more exposure,” she said.
“Compared to 20 years ago — there is a much greater awareness of Botox and fillers — people are exposed to these on a daily basis.
“We used to have people come in to treat lines on their skin with fillers but now we are glamorising patients.”
She added that all practitioners should be screening their patients, either through a survey or through their own means.
“Any good practitioner would be involved in taking a formal history of the patient’s previous history as part of their consultation. One of the most important things is spending time and screening patients,” she said.
“This is vital for things like cosmetic surgeries as you get an understanding of the patient and what they are possibly going through before deciding on getting the specific procedure. There is a concern that this type of screening is not happening at injectable clinics.”
Dr Laith Barnouti, a leading Sydney cosmetic plastic surgeon, said out of the 40 patients he would normally see each week, about a dozen of them would be aged 18 to 23 and he normally refused to operate on them.
“I had one client, one prospective customer, who was 15, who wanted their nose shaped. I told them there was no chance we would even consider it because it is against the law (at that age).”
“It is down to the plastic surgeon to decide whether they operate or not. Normally in our clinic, we do not like to see people below the age of 21 — most people seem to think that surgery is easy, that it is in and out, but there can be a lot of risks also.
“It (having cosmetic procedures) is becoming a culture that people want to be apart of. They want fillers from the age of 18, this is influenced by social media, things they see on TV. I have kids myself and I know that is what they talk about.”
Parenting expert Justin Coulson said parents should feel comfortable speaking to their children about the issue.
“Too many of our children observe a belief that their value as a human is tied to their physical appearance. That is a destructive belief to a teenager,” he said.
“These conversations should be had.
“Research shows that when our children feel accepted, loved and worthy just the way they are they tend to be less concerned about the superficial and cosmetic changes that occur from time to time.”
SPREAD OF BEAUTY CLINICS
The increase in demand has cropped up a new industry of day surgery beauty clinics which specialise in “non-invasive” procedures such as lip injections and Botox.
They often spruik low costs and quick turnarounds — with the procedures largely handled by cosmetic nurses, rather than plastic surgeons with medical qualifications.
There also concern young men and women do not fully understand the risks associated with the cosmetic surgeries and procedures.
With botox injections there is a risk of bruising, swelling and headaches.
Lip fillers can lead to swelling redness and skin death.
In more rare cases the fillers can block blood supply to the skin, creating permanent scarring, or lead to blockages behind the eye — creating permanent blindness.
Aliva Celio, 23, from Sydney, saw the risks of cosmetic surgery first hand when her breast augmentation went wrong last year.
“I had lost weight and I did not want to make a massive change (to my breasts) but I found my tops were baggier and didn’t fit. I think this feeling is very common. But like a lot of people I thought the surgery and everything with that would be fine,” she said.
But the weeks following the procedure, she noticed a drastic change in her health.
“I was getting terrible anxiety, my hormones were out, I didn’t have a normal menstrual cycle, my vision started to blur,” she said.
She then travelled to America to have the implants removed as she thought she suffered from “breast implant illness”.
“I can’t thank Dr Feng and her team here in Cleveland enough for saving my life. Knowledge is power and I hope that sharing my experience on breast implant illness can help others, I’m here for anyone struggling,” she said.